Kitten Gifts
by interdimensionalmeatpie
Summary: Cats have always been known to give little gifts to their loved ones. Yang knows that fact, but yet, she doesn't. A little bit of bittersweet Bumblebee post season 3.
_Meow meow. I be back. With a fic. Of the bees. And poor Yang._

 _Poor girl loses both of her moms, her arm and her team and her public image and her... -gross sobbing-_

 _As always, Thanks, Monty._

* * *

Cats leave gifts time and time again for the people they care about.

Yang Xiao Long knew about this fact, as did most everybody else, but at the same time, she didn't know about this little fact.

She certainly didn't when she woke up one day with the little square of chocolate besides her on her pillow. Throwing it across the room with a scowl and curling up in her blanket for yet another day, Yang scowled and tried to make herself as comfy as she could.

It showed up again the next day, meeting the same fate, as Yang once again pulled the blanket over her head to slip back into exile.

Just like clockwork, for the rest of the week, candy appeared on her pillow, only to be tossed away almost immediately. She had called Ruby into her room that Friday, telling her to stop giving her those stupid candies and snapping when she denied it, and bursting into tears out of guilt afterwards. Tai and Qrow had denied it as well, though she knew it had to be one of them.

Because who else could it be?

So the following night she climbed out of bed when she was sure everyone else was asleep, making her way down to the kitchen to get rid of those damn candies.

No trace of them in the pantry, kitchen, and even Ruby's room when she checked.

Where the _hell_ were they coming from?

Yang let out a huff of frustration, turning back towards her room and slipping back under the covers. Feeling something hard in her pillowcase, she reached into it, her fingers playing over the wrinkled tinfoil cover of a-

She didn't need the damn pillow anyway.

* * *

And again, the following morning, a brightly wrapped candy appeared besides her.

She raised a hand to slap it away, sending it careening to the floor, and burrowing under her blanket again in what was quickly becoming routine for her.

Yang didn't care about any of it, she didn't care that everyone kept trying to make her feel better, she didn't care about everyone's efforts to connect with her, and she certainly _didn't give a damn about the candy._ So once again she yanked the cover over her head, determined to block out the world and every stupid little thing that could encroach on her own little personal bubble.

She could block out Ruby, Tai, Zwei, everyone. What did it matter, she could block out the whole world if she wanted.

But after a while of huddling on her bed, Yang couldn't block out the fact that her stomach had begun to growl rather insistently. It didn't help either that she had stormed out of dinner last night at the mere mention of candy.

It was annoying, all right.

She peeked her head out of the covers, making sure nobody was in the vicinity, before reaching over the side of the bed to snag the piece of chocolate. It was a pain to unwrap it with only one hand, and it had started to melt slightly in her hand by the time she had gotten the wrapper off, but _the warmth that spread throughout her as the sweet dissolved in her mouth…_

Yang couldn't help but smile a little.

So she closed her eyes and leaned back against her headboard, savoring the chocolate just a bit longer before it disappeared, still relishing the little joy long after it had gone, not willing to give up on it just yet.

She opened her eyes, her smile fading as she glanced over towards the door where her sister stood, a tentative smile on her face.

Even though her own had faded, Ruby's still shone brightly.

She had seen Yang smile for the first time this last couple of months. Wasn't that reason enough to smile?

* * *

Yang had come out of her room that night, still avoiding her father's eyes as she sat down at the dinner table. But this time, she had moved her chair closer to Ruby's, exchanging more than a few words here and there.

She didn't need to tell Ruby she was sorry. They both knew.

And by the time dinner was over, she had managed to thank Tai for the meal in more than two words, and retreated to the living room to catch an episode of _X-Ray and Vav_ with her sister. It was awkward and a little quiet, but it definitely was a start.

Bidding Ruby goodnight, Yang returned to her room, Zwei nipping at her heels. Leaning down to scratch the puppy between his ears, she eased into her bed, resting her head on her pillow. Feeling a strange lump in it, she reached down beneath it, pulling out another candy wrapped in tinfoil, and set it down on her bedside table with a smile.

The next morning, she had woken up to another candy besides the one from last night.

Wednesday brought about a new day, with Yang rising at about 7:30. Nobody was up yet, so she quietly grabbed the piece of new bit of chocolate nestled besides her stepped out, past Ruby's room, past the kitchen, into the living room, with Zwei snoozing in a ray of early morning ray of sunshine. Popping in an old tape of _X Ray and Vav vs LavaGeoff_ and grabbing a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's from the kitchen, Yang plopped down on a recliner and kicked back, watching the heroes on the TV fight their dreaded foes with vigor and enthusiasm.

She wished such an attitude could translate out upon her as well.

Everything still hurt, the physical scars, the mental scars, and everything in between.

And as she watched X-Ray and Vav battle evil with good humor on the screen, Yang wondered how they could stay that positive.

Sure, it was a show, but the two faced impossible odds with gusto.

Just like Ruby did…

How was it, even now, after everything, Ruby still managed to keep up genuine congeniality? No matter how much she denied it, Yang knew she was behind the candies.

She genuinely cared, she never stopped moving forward.

And Yang felt all the worse for it. She wished she could share that vim and vigor, the energy they shared not several months ago. But sometimes the pain was just too much to bear, too much to handle, opening up the black hole even more that would pull and pull and pull and pull until resisting became too hard to bear.

Even now, Jaune, Nora, and Ren stopped in, and Ruby was always ready to invite them in and say hi, or travel around the island together doing whatever they pleased.

And her?

Nothing.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Zwei stirred audibly from the opposite corner of the room, waddling sleepily over and pawing at her foot.

 _But at least I won't have to go it alone_.

So Yang picked Zwei up and set him on her lap, inadvertently knocking over her bowl of cereal and giggling in spite of herself as the puppy frantically lapped at the mess.

* * *

Thursday morning brought about another candy, which she gave to Ruby to break in halves for them to share.

Friday morning she had given the piece of chocolate to (a very perplexed) Tai, who had returned it in the form of a gooey chocolate center of a pancake.

Saturday morning came with more sweets, morphed into Saturday night, which involved Yang using the candy as a bet in a game of blackjack with Ruby and Tai. Yang had a little trouble with her cards, but after some finagling with her feet to manipulate her cards, she was able to win a few rounds and even crack a joke about having only one arm, to Tai's horror and Ruby's stifled laughter.

Sunday afternoon saw Jaune, Nora, and Ren coming to visit. Yang had stepped outside momentarily for some fresh air and found Jaune, sitting alone on the back steps. She stepped into her room and returned with her piece of chocolate, handing it to the young huntsman with an encouraging smile.

Monday morning Yang had woken up early around 4:30 in the morning to catch either Ruby or Tai in the act of leaving the piece of chocolate. Alas, she was too late to catch whomever it was, as the customary sweet lay besides her on her bed.

Tuesday morning brought nothing, nor did Wednesday. But it didn't matter. She knew they cared, she didn't need candies to make her happy.

Well of course they did help.

And now, at the end of a long day out with Tai and Ruby down at the park, she was reclined happily on her bed, scratching Zwei's belly, and giggling a little when he twisted to nip playfully at her fingers.

It didn't really matter who gave her the candies.

It all went to show that sometimes, the little things weren't really so little after all.

And now, as her eyes began to droop, the smile remained etched on her face, as a testament to a day well spent.

Sure things could have been a lot better. Sure, things still sucked. Sure, it all hurt as bad as hell sometimes, but here, Yang knew she wouldn't be alone. She had her dad, Qrow, JNR, and Ruby.

Although they had lost so much, although none of them would be back to the way they used to be, all they had left at the least was each other, and with good company came the strength to move forward-

 ** _Crash-_**

Yang bolted upright, scanning the room for the source of the sound, her eyes widening as her gaze fell upon the window, which had fallen out of its frame and smashed on the floor in a halo of shattered glass around a dark figure lying stunned on the ground, with a box of candy and a shattered decorated Grimm mask falling from her hands.

Yang's eyes widened as her partner struggled to her feet, tears and emotions colliding in a flood as she threw herself forward into her partner's arms.

"…B-Blake…Nice of you to… _drop in._ "

* * *

 _...you can never really take the pun outta the girl. You can't take the girl outta the pun either. However that works. Irrelevant, because now I am venturing into babble and bother._

 _The bees deserve a lot more happiness than they do._

 _Partly because they've dealt with so much canon stuff and partly because the both of them are absolutely bloody adorable._

 _Welp. Enough with the babble._

 _i-Pie_


End file.
